Top 10 Steven Spielberg Movies

Thursday, June 10, 2010 at 1:24 pm

This list of the top 10 Steven Spielberg movies comes in honor of the June 11th anniversary of E.T.’s movie premier. That event took place in 1982, and Spielberg has turned out countless masterpieces since then. You’ll no doubt disagree with some (or all) of my rankings, so be sure and voice your own thoughts in our comments section. And don’t forget that all the films listed below can be rented from Netflix.

10. Duel (1971) – Dennis Weaver gives a one-man tour de force as a harried traveler pursued by a psychotic trucker and his demonic rig. Even though it was a made-for-TV movie, it’s still better than most of the crap cranked out by Hollywood on a weekly basis.

8. Amistad (1997) – Based on real-life events, Amistad tells the inspirational story of African slaves who rebelled against their Spanish captors only to be arrested in the United States and put on trial. The all-star cast includes Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins, Matthew McConaughey and Djimon Hounsou.

7. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) – When he encounters an unidentified flying object, electrical lineman Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) becomes obsessed with the idea of little green men. But as his obsession intensifies, others around the globe begin reporting similar occurrences. Ray Bradbury would refer to it as the greatest science fiction film ever made, and who am I to argue with a legend like that?

6. Schindler’s List (1993) – The heroic real-life tale of Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), a German businessman who suffered a crisis of conscience and struggled to save Jews from the death camps of WWII. Winner of seven Academy Awards, the film serves as a grim reminder of the Holocaust. Ben Kingsley co-stars, and Ralph Fiennes portrays pure evil as SS officer Amon Goth.

5. Jurassic Park (1993) – When an amusement park filled with cloned dinosaurs goes haywire, a group of scientists (Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, and Sam Neill) must struggle to avoid sudden extinction. Goldblum’s quirkiness worked perfectly as an expert on chaos theory, and the marauding dinosaurs showed off the latest advances in CGI technology and animatronics. Until the release of Titanic four years later, it held the top spot as the highest grossing movie ever made. While it’s rare to find films that adults and kids can enjoy equally, Jurassic Park is just such a motion picture.

4. Saving Private Ryan (1998) – In the days following D-Day, a group of soldiers (including Tom Hanks, Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Ed Burns, and Tom Sizemore) are sent into enemy territory to find a lone soldier (Matt Damon) and bring him safely home. Besides the usual reflections on the horrors of war and brotherhood of soldiers, Saving Private Ryan features the most eye-popping battle sequences ever caught on film.

3. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) – Spielberg tugs at the heartstrings and speaks to the inner child in all of us with his tale of an adorable alien stranded on Earth and the young boy (Henry Thomas) who befriends him.

2. Jaws (1975) – With the underrated Roy Scheider as a henpecked local sheriff, Richard Dreyfuss as a smartass expert on fish, and Robert Shaw as a salty shark hunter who delivers the greatest speech in film history, Jaws masterfully delivers tension, terror, and humor. And while it may look a little cheesy by modern standards, that massive shark was enough to scare viewers right out of their seats.

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – Harrison Ford donned his trademark fedora for the first time in this throwback to the films of yesteryear. With charisma to spare, a geeky fascination for archeology, and a keen aim with a bullwhip, Indiana Jones became the prototype for the modern-day adventurer. The chemistry between Ford and co-star Karen Allen is superb, and the set pieces–including a massive rolling ball and lethal Biblical artifact–remain iconic almost three decades later. The distinctive score by John Williams doesn’t hurt, either.

If you’d like to rent these Top 10 Steven Spielberg movies, be sure to sign up for a free trial membership to Netflix. They’ve got the lowest prices around, and I’ve been a satisfied customer since 2005. Once you’ve made your selections, the movies will be delivered right to your door by the USPS. It doesn’t get any easier than that.

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7 Responses to “Top 10 Steven Spielberg Movies”

Fantastic list of movies. I remember watching ET when I was younger, still a classic film today! Catch me if you can is also fantastic! I think I may dig out the old DVD collection and watch some of these again 🙂